Wimbledon and the other Grand Slams are set to consider severe cuts to first round loser's money to try and avoid a repeat of the withdrawals from the first round this year.

One idea already being floated by leading officials would be to restrict loser payments to something like £10,000 from the current £35,000, to try and discourage players from going on court when they are not fit enough to complete the match.

However, there would be no cut to the overall prize funds, with the rewards simply being redistributed among those who win matches in their respective events.

Bernard Tomic admitted he had barely tried in his defeat by Mischa Zverev on Tuesday

The admission came as Wimbledon and other Grand Slams plan to cut first round losers' winnings in a bid to avoid a repeat of early withdrawals

There was considerable angst on Wednesday around the corridors of SW19 at the negative image created by seven men withdrawing from their opening round matches.

Two of them happened to be on the Centre Court against Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, and the whole issue was compounded by Bernard Tomic's separate admission that he had barely tried against Mischa Zverev.

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While the total of seven among the men (and one woman) was an off-trend 'spike' in withdrawals, the adverse publicity will focus minds when the Grand Slam Board —representing the four Majors — meets at Wimbledon next week. A cut will be among proposals discussed.

According to locker room sources, at least two of the first-round mid-match retirements — although not necessarily the ones on Centre Court — were being widely predicted within the players' inner sanctum before they actually happened.

There is said to be some frustration within the All England Club hierarchy that more was not done by ATP officials and medical staff to prevent them going on in the first place.

Cutting first-round prize money, which has some influential support, would be a radical solution, but the argument runs that only a disincentive for unfit players to hang around and try to play would work. It is, after all, almost impossible to prove the extent of a pre-existing injury.

The example is also cited of golf, where payment is minimal if you miss the cut. At the Masters those who go home after two days receive $10,000, and it is an event that Wimbledon often compares itself to.

Any move to severely slash first-round prize money is likely to meet fierce resistance from players' organisations the ATP and WTA, which could prove a major obstacle and make it unrealistic.

For their rank-and-file members, the lucrative Grand Slam events are often a financial lifeline. Gaining entry to all four singles events in one year can guarantee a minimum of around £130,000 to make a living and meet the costs of travel and coaching.

Alexandr Dolgopolov also withdrew early, after just 43 minutes, against Roger Federer

It is already a bone of contention that the Slams pay a lower proportion of their overall revenue into prize money compared to most events on the circuit.

And the ATP Tour are trialling their own scheme where those who pull out before a match are guaranteed first-round money, while a loser from qualifying can step in and play for the chance to make the second round and earn that portion of the purse.

However, some senior officials question the ethics of paying players handsomely for not performing, and it has to be remembered that the four Grand Slams operate as a separate entity from the rest of the tour, which is controlled by the ATP.

This could make it difficult to implement another potential solution to stop those who know they are less than fit going on court to pick up the losers' guaranteed cash.

That is to ban them from playing at tournaments following the Grand Slams. It could also be proposed that if a player retires from a singles match they are automatically barred from the doubles.

Feliciano Lopez pulled out of his singles match but continued onto his doubles draw

Although there is no suggestion that either of their injuries in singles were not genuine, both Viktor Troicki and Feliciano Lopez continued into the doubles draw after pulling out of their singles mid-match.

An All England Club spokesperson refused to comment, but Andy Murray seemed to endorse the ATP method: 'For the tournament and the fans and the TV it's not good to have guys going onto the court already injured and knowing maybe they're not going to be able to complete the match,' he said.

Meanwhile, the Grand Slam supervisors and referee Andrew Jarrett were still looking into the interview given by Tomic after his first-round defeat.